Edward John Smith
Edward John Smith 'was the captain of the [[RMS Titanic|RMS ''Titanic]]. Biography Early Life He was born on 27th of January 1850, his parents later owned a shop. Smith attended the Etruria British School until the age of 13 when he went to Liverpool to begin a seafaring career. He began his apprenticeship on the ''Senator Weber''' owned by A Gibson & Co., Liverpool. Later In Life On Tuesday 12 July 1887 Smith married Sarah Eleanor Pennington. Their daughter, Helen Melville Smith, was born in Waterloo, Liverpool, England, on Saturday 2 April 1898. On Borad The RMS Titanic During the voyage, Smith had been given several ice warnings from other ships in the Atlantic. He didn't know that the ship was heading for a collision course with an iceberg. When ''Titanic hit the berg, the impact woke him up and he rushed to the bridge only to find out that his ship had been badly damaged and that she would sink. This struck him hard. However, he and the other crew members did their best to get everyone off the ship. A sailor tried to convince him that he should leave his ship, Smith refused. As the water was coming onto the deck, people panicked and scrambled up the boat deck towards the stern of the ship fearful for their lives. Smith walked onto the bridge and opened the door to the wheel house. His hands were trembling with fear. He knew that from the time the Titanic hit the iceberg that his ship was doomed and so was he. He closed the doors to the wheel house, locked them and stood there looking at the rising water engulfing his ship. A couple of seconds later, the glass shattered and the water engulfed the wheelhouse, Smith drowned whilst clinging to the ship's wheel. The ship sank beneath the waves a few minutes later, killing an estimated 1,500 people. The body of Captain Smith was never recovered. When Rose died and went into the great beyond version of Titanic, Smith could be seen in the background, along with Joseph Bruce Ismay. Behind the scenes Smith is played by Bernard Hill. The movie remains silent on whether Smith did yield to Joseph Bruce Ismay's pressure to bring the Titanic ahead of schedule. This is another historical controversy. It is a mystery on how Smith died on the Titanic. The film portrays the most likely reports which claim that he retreated to the wheelhouse. However while some sources do state that Smith was last seen standing nobly at the bridge, prepared to do his duty and go down with the ship, others say he was actively present in the radio room, and Harold Bride claimed that he saw Smith diving into the sea from the bridge shortly before the final plunge. It is worth of note that Bernard Hill has also played in The Return of the King as "King Théoden". Both The Return and the Titanic belong to the 3 most Academy awarded movies, having tied the record with 11 Oscars each (the third being Ben Hur) among others those for Best Picture, Director, Original Song, Original Dramatic Score, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Costume Design, Sound and Art Direction. Also, both movies grossed over $2 billion. Mr. Hill is the only actor to have appeared in two such films. Furthermore, both Smith and Théoden die in both films. Category:Characters Category:1912 Characters Category:Deceased Category:Crew-Class Passengers Category:Historical Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Recurring Characters